It’s funny that all day long I was laughing at Marilyn Monroe’s line of “Well, I can’t very well yell out ‘Oh, Butler’ can I? What if someone’s name is ‘Butler’? Addison: "You have a point. An idiotic one, but a point…” To me, that is so genuinely witty. Cool that you guys could see this classic in a great theater. Can’t wait for my next visit to nyc to go to Loew’s Jersey!
“Hello Dolly”, “Fiddler on the Roof”, “Man of La Mancha” and many others all had their exclusive hard ticket premiers here in the 70s when it was a single screen theater. It opened as the Cine 150—one of the great Dimension 150 theaters in the USA. Weird that it would be so forgotten now. Twinning will do that, I guess…
For a brief time in the 1960s, this theater often played features day / dated with the Lakewood—which makes perfect sense since they were on the complete opposite sides of town. Often adult arty films and stuff like “David and Lisa”. Forgotten 60s stuff…
It was the Major Theater up until the late 50s / early 60s, then became the Lido. I was always intrigued by the ads in the paper for the attractions at this theater during the 60s because it seemed like the quintessential ‘burlesque’ theater—showing films with Mamie Van Doren and featuring live strip-tease. That’s what the Lido was, at least according to the ads in the paper. A fun research subject for someone who has the time would be to document the list of double-features that played this place for a decade when it was the Lido.
In the early 90s, someone bought it, reclaimed the ‘Major’ name, and tried to show alternative films and cult films for about two weeks.
I always thought the Lido would be fun to go to, but I was just a pre-teen…now it’s an office facility, I think.
What a downward spiral this theater had. It was the first-run theater in Dallas for all of the 70s and early 80s and then ‘poof’. When a single screen, it was Interstate Dallas' flagship theater.
Actually, “Village” was never part of this theater’s name. It was located in the “village”, but it was simply known as “Preston Royal”. What ever happened to the Park Forest?
I saw Bob Hope and Jackie Gleason in some kind of personal appearance here when I was about 8 years old. It was a promotion for some movie they were in and now I don’t even remember the movie! Even though it was shown right after their appearance. Anyway, my parents got a kick out of it. Shame this true palace was demolished…
I think my favorite memory of this theater is of the opening night of Ross Hunter’s “Lost Horizon” where my parents and I saw the ‘uncut’ version—with the infamous scarf dance which isn’t even on the laserdisc. This was one great theater. My elderly parents even called me from home to mourn it’s demolition.
This theater was great. Saw “Saturday Night Fever” several times on its first release. It was a great “date place” for north Dallas teens. Sad to see it go. Right up there with NorthPark in terms of presentation.
Loew’s acquired this theater in the late 1960s, I believe, and then it was known as the “Loew’s Delman”. In 1969, the corporation constructed the first downtown movie theater in years in Dallas at One Main Place, Elm at Griffin. The theater was initially known just as “Loew’s”; then “Loew’s Downtown” It was later triplexed, demolished. As for the Delman, it was a nice theater—saw the first re-issues of “The Sound of Music” and “Camelot” here when I was a teen.
Well, UA operated a theater known as the Guild in the 1960s and early 70s at this address, I’m almost positive. Then suddenly it was showing porn in the 70s and early 80s under the name (I think), the Columbia. Please tell me my memory isn’t gone. The interesting thing to me as that UA really tried to market this place as a first-run house when it was first called the Guild.
Unless I’m way off, this theater was known as the Guild in the late 1960s. Possibly returned to the Columbia name in the 1970s when it showed porno movies. This is sort=of a happening area of Dallas right now. Shame it can’t be restored.
In the 1960s, this was run as a prestige house by UA Theaters. “Far From the Madding Crowd”, “Funny Girl” and “The Producers” all played their exclusive first-run engagements here. From time to time, films played day-dated with the Vogue Theater in Oak Cliff.
One of my favorite memories of the old Skyway was when my friend and I sat in front of the late comedian Sam Kinnison and his entourage at a screening of “The Hand That Rocks the Cradle”. They hooped and hollered back at the movie and soon my friend and I joined in. (We were the only people in the theater for a matinee). They liked us and comped us into his show later that evening at the Orpheum across the street. Not my thing, but I liked getting in free.
Pretty terrible theater at the time…musta been 1990 or 91….
Hey, thanks for the info….I’ll check out that back issue. Wish I knew enough about those theaters to create listings. The Palace was destroyed with no preservation attempt whatsoever. Ditto for all the others, as well…
Hey, thanks for the info….I’ll check out that back issue. Wish I knew enough about those theaters to create listings. The Palace was destroyed with no preservation attempt whatsoever. Ditto for all the others, as well…
This theater was divided (I don’t really know how because I was never in the ‘big’ theater') and the whole complex spilled over into a building next door as a 6-screen plex that was billed as ‘the largest theater in the world’ on a big painted mural on the rear of the theater on Pacific St. I was always so impressed by that stat.
My fav. memory of the Capri 6 is that when I made my dad take me to see one of the sequels to the “planet of the apes' series in one of the smaller theaters, actors/ushers dressed up like apes walked up and down the aisle doing their ape thing. It made a big impression on a 10 year old boy in the early 70’s….
This 6-plex became the home for every blaxploitation picture that Hollywood ever made. Some you’ve heard of; some you never will.
This theater was owned by Gordon McLendon, as were many of the cities most interesting and comfortable theaters (Casa Linda, Park Forest, Preston Royal, and the crazy drive ins—-Gemini, Astro, Apollo, the list is long)…
I went to see some ‘Hercules’ movie there (alone) while my dad was on a convention in San Antonio in about 1973. I was 13. I thought the theater was the most beautiful building I had ever been in. I also remember the theater as being one of the most influential spaces in my lives, for other reasons. :)
It’s funny that all day long I was laughing at Marilyn Monroe’s line of “Well, I can’t very well yell out ‘Oh, Butler’ can I? What if someone’s name is ‘Butler’? Addison: "You have a point. An idiotic one, but a point…” To me, that is so genuinely witty. Cool that you guys could see this classic in a great theater. Can’t wait for my next visit to nyc to go to Loew’s Jersey!
OK, reserved-seat then.
“Hello Dolly”, “Fiddler on the Roof”, “Man of La Mancha” and many others all had their exclusive hard ticket premiers here in the 70s when it was a single screen theater. It opened as the Cine 150—one of the great Dimension 150 theaters in the USA. Weird that it would be so forgotten now. Twinning will do that, I guess…
For a brief time in the 1960s, this theater often played features day / dated with the Lakewood—which makes perfect sense since they were on the complete opposite sides of town. Often adult arty films and stuff like “David and Lisa”. Forgotten 60s stuff…
It was the Major Theater up until the late 50s / early 60s, then became the Lido. I was always intrigued by the ads in the paper for the attractions at this theater during the 60s because it seemed like the quintessential ‘burlesque’ theater—showing films with Mamie Van Doren and featuring live strip-tease. That’s what the Lido was, at least according to the ads in the paper. A fun research subject for someone who has the time would be to document the list of double-features that played this place for a decade when it was the Lido.
In the early 90s, someone bought it, reclaimed the ‘Major’ name, and tried to show alternative films and cult films for about two weeks.
I always thought the Lido would be fun to go to, but I was just a pre-teen…now it’s an office facility, I think.
What a downward spiral this theater had. It was the first-run theater in Dallas for all of the 70s and early 80s and then ‘poof’. When a single screen, it was Interstate Dallas' flagship theater.
Actually, “Village” was never part of this theater’s name. It was located in the “village”, but it was simply known as “Preston Royal”. What ever happened to the Park Forest?
Er, maybe it was “Grease”…oops
I saw Bob Hope and Jackie Gleason in some kind of personal appearance here when I was about 8 years old. It was a promotion for some movie they were in and now I don’t even remember the movie! Even though it was shown right after their appearance. Anyway, my parents got a kick out of it. Shame this true palace was demolished…
I think my favorite memory of this theater is of the opening night of Ross Hunter’s “Lost Horizon” where my parents and I saw the ‘uncut’ version—with the infamous scarf dance which isn’t even on the laserdisc. This was one great theater. My elderly parents even called me from home to mourn it’s demolition.
I wanna buy this theater! It looks very well-maintained…
This theater was great. Saw “Saturday Night Fever” several times on its first release. It was a great “date place” for north Dallas teens. Sad to see it go. Right up there with NorthPark in terms of presentation.
Loew’s acquired this theater in the late 1960s, I believe, and then it was known as the “Loew’s Delman”. In 1969, the corporation constructed the first downtown movie theater in years in Dallas at One Main Place, Elm at Griffin. The theater was initially known just as “Loew’s”; then “Loew’s Downtown” It was later triplexed, demolished. As for the Delman, it was a nice theater—saw the first re-issues of “The Sound of Music” and “Camelot” here when I was a teen.
Well, UA operated a theater known as the Guild in the 1960s and early 70s at this address, I’m almost positive. Then suddenly it was showing porn in the 70s and early 80s under the name (I think), the Columbia. Please tell me my memory isn’t gone. The interesting thing to me as that UA really tried to market this place as a first-run house when it was first called the Guild.
Unless I’m way off, this theater was known as the Guild in the late 1960s. Possibly returned to the Columbia name in the 1970s when it showed porno movies. This is sort=of a happening area of Dallas right now. Shame it can’t be restored.
In the 1960s, this was run as a prestige house by UA Theaters. “Far From the Madding Crowd”, “Funny Girl” and “The Producers” all played their exclusive first-run engagements here. From time to time, films played day-dated with the Vogue Theater in Oak Cliff.
One of my favorite memories of the old Skyway was when my friend and I sat in front of the late comedian Sam Kinnison and his entourage at a screening of “The Hand That Rocks the Cradle”. They hooped and hollered back at the movie and soon my friend and I joined in. (We were the only people in the theater for a matinee). They liked us and comped us into his show later that evening at the Orpheum across the street. Not my thing, but I liked getting in free.
Pretty terrible theater at the time…musta been 1990 or 91….
Hey, thanks for the info….I’ll check out that back issue. Wish I knew enough about those theaters to create listings. The Palace was destroyed with no preservation attempt whatsoever. Ditto for all the others, as well…
Hey, thanks for the info….I’ll check out that back issue. Wish I knew enough about those theaters to create listings. The Palace was destroyed with no preservation attempt whatsoever. Ditto for all the others, as well…
This theater was divided (I don’t really know how because I was never in the ‘big’ theater') and the whole complex spilled over into a building next door as a 6-screen plex that was billed as ‘the largest theater in the world’ on a big painted mural on the rear of the theater on Pacific St. I was always so impressed by that stat.
My fav. memory of the Capri 6 is that when I made my dad take me to see one of the sequels to the “planet of the apes' series in one of the smaller theaters, actors/ushers dressed up like apes walked up and down the aisle doing their ape thing. It made a big impression on a 10 year old boy in the early 70’s….
This 6-plex became the home for every blaxploitation picture that Hollywood ever made. Some you’ve heard of; some you never will.
This theater was owned by Gordon McLendon, as were many of the cities most interesting and comfortable theaters (Casa Linda, Park Forest, Preston Royal, and the crazy drive ins—-Gemini, Astro, Apollo, the list is long)…
He shoulda hung on to this gem, the Melba/Capri.
I went to see some ‘Hercules’ movie there (alone) while my dad was on a convention in San Antonio in about 1973. I was 13. I thought the theater was the most beautiful building I had ever been in. I also remember the theater as being one of the most influential spaces in my lives, for other reasons. :)